The development of Kansas in the post-Civil War era could easily be attributed to one thing: the railroad. As the United States rushed West to pursue gold, Kansas was the wide space that stood between businessmen and their fortune. Before the Civil War engulfed the country, entrepreneurs only dreamt of laying railroads across Kansas, connecting the gold-rush boom towns in Colorado and California to the Mississippi and the East Coast.

Government subsidies and land grants powered progress as the railroads swept across Kansas, led by the Union Pacific and Missouri Pacific Railroads. Construction on railroads began after the Civil War, and many were operational within a few years. Towns depended on railroads to provide jobs, commerce, and a window to the rest of the country.

The research collected here seeks to tell the stories of towns that were won or lost to the railroad. Many communities' fate was dependent on the path of the railroads. Communities were often sustained by the railroad, yet towns without a rail station could be easily swept underfoot, or be absorbed by a neighboring town that had a railroad. Read the diligent research collected by undergraduate students, featuring oral histories, historic maps, newspaper analysis, and field work. Scroll below to read through the archived materials, listed alphabetically.